Dutch midfielder Rafael Van der Vaart has proved to be the bargain of the season so far.

He signed for Spurs in a last minute £8 million deal. A deal which was simply too good to turn down for Spurs boss harry Redknapp. In a short space of time, Van der Vaart already appears to have energised Spurs. The 27 year old has made Spurs step up a level and with their performances so far,they look like they can achieve something this season.

“When I came in this morning it wasn’t something we were looking to do,” Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp said of Rafael van der Vaart on transfer deadline day. “I thought he was going to Bayern Munich yesterday for about £18m and suddenly he become an awful lot cheaper,” said Redknapp. “The chairman came to me and said, ‘Look, he’s available for around about £8m‘.” The rest as they say is history.

At a reported £8 million the deal is an unbelievable scoop for Tottenham and has given the squad a real boost. Van der Vaart is exactly what Tottenham needed. He was a little unfortunate not to succeed in Madrid and probably suffered from a change in management shortly after arriving. His ability though was never doubted, but in a team of galacticos he was always going to struggle to hold down a first team place.

At Tottenham you can’t see this being a problem. Spurs bought him even though they had in Luka Modric a similar player. But a player of his caliber at such a low cost is impossible to ignore.Redknapp uses Van der Vaart and Modric together and so far they have turned out to be a great partnership. The Dutch international has 6 goals in 10 starts for Spurs so far this season in the Premier League and 4 assists. He might have joined a club with not the same ambition as Real Madrid but all he wanted was to play and do something for the team he is in and he is doing that right now.

Van der Vaart is a product of the renowned Ajax academy. An academy which has produced some of the best Dutch players of this generation including Wesley Sneijder, Johnny Heitinga, Ryan Babel, Hedwiges Maduro and Maarten Steklenberg. He made his breakthrough at the end of the 1999/2000 season. He won the Eredivisie twice and the KNVB Cup with Ajax in their successful 2001/2002 season. He moved to German side Hamburg in a €5.5 million deal in 2005. And it surprised the Ajax legend Johan Cruyff who said : "I don’t know what to say about it or what Rafael van der Vaart is doing in Hamburg." He impressed at Hamburg and finished as their top scorer when they came 3rd in the Bundesliga. His away form was so impressive for them as they didn’t lose a single away match with Van der Vaart on the pitch in the course of his first one and a half seasons.

Van der Vaart moved to Real Madrid in the summer of 2008, but he wasn’t able to replicate his success and goal scoring prowess for them and was unable to hold down a regular place in the starting XI. Although he created a chance every 30 minutes for his team-mates, a quite remarkable statistic.

At Spurs, the Dutchman seems to be enjoying his life the most. He is playing in a roaming role for them where he can move freely all over the pitch and has the freedom of playing behind a striker. With Van der Vaart in the side, Tottenham’s average pass completion ratio has improved. Another aspect of Spurs’ play that van der Vaart appears to have improved is their control of the ball in central areas of the attacking third. He likes the fact that Redknapp is less tactical. “Harry is a very special man, that’s why I already feel at home at Spurs. It feels like I’m back on the street," said Van der Vaart. "There are no long and boring speeches about tactics, like I was used to at Real Madrid. There is a clipboard in our dressing room but Harry doesn’t write anything on it." The 27-year-old has adapted to life in North London almost with ease.He is the kind of player that would start every match for a team like Chelsea,Arsenal or Man United. Spurs now have a world class feeling in them with Van der Vaart in the team. He was named Premier League Player of the Month for October for his impressive performances.

Spurs move into the knockout stage of the Champions League having qualified on top place from their group which included Champions Inter Milan. Van der Vaart’s good form has contributed to Spurs’ qualification. He has scored 2 goals and made one assist in the 3 matches that he has played. He has experience in Europe unlike other Spurs players who are playing for the first time in Europe’s biggest club competition. And the Spurs boss will hope that Van der Vaart can not only drive them to success in Europe but even make them a powerful force in the League who can challenge the likes of Man Utd, Chelsea and Arsenal consistently.